'Nebraska' came unexpectedly to Forte

Will Forte attends the "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues" premiere on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2013 in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)Invision

If Will Forte never had made it to "Nebraska," the movie, that would have been fine. After all, he was thrilled just to audition for Alexander Payne, the director of such outstanding movies as "Sideways" and "The Descendants."

"People think that this was all some plan to move into drama," the former "Saturday Night Live" and "MacGruber" funnyman said.

"I was not searching for a drama," Forte said. "My agent sent me this script, and I read it and thought it was awesome and felt this connection to the character.

"It was the most unexpected and exciting situation to find myself in; I am so thankful to Alexander for letting me be a part of this."

Forte put himself on tape and then, after 41/2 months, heard Payne wanted to meet him.

"That was just a thrill right there. Even if that was where it ended, that was so exciting because I was such a huge fan of his."

Payne took a sweet and rewarding risk by casting him as Bruce Dern's son in "Nebraska."

Dern plays Woody Grant, a Billings, Mont., retiree who receives a notice saying he has won $1 million, but he cannot or will not read between the lines to realize it's a sweepstakes tease sent to millions of Americans.

Woody's tart-tongued wife, June Squibb, thinks he's a fool, but son David (Forte) reluctantly agrees to drive his alcoholic dad to Nebraska to claim the nonexistent fortune.

Forte first met Dern at a steakhouse dinner with the director and, a month later, headed to Nebraska for a week of what could be called rehearsal time.

"We didn't really rehearse, we just hung around -- Bruce and June and I, with Alexander. He would take us around to the different locations. We just got to know Nebraska, and we got to know each other."

For Forte, that was dandy.

"By the time we started working, I felt like I was working with friends, rather than people who were judging me."

Forte, 43, a California native, never had been to Nebraska before the production.

"We shot a little bit in Montana, and I used to go to a dude ranch with my family up in Montana as a kid, and I went to Mount Rushmore once. So I was in the state of South Dakota for a day. Never in Nebraska.

"My mom's side of the family lived in Kansas. So my grandma came over from Kansas. I feel like I'm familiar with the Midwest code of values and ethics but had not spent a ton of time there."

"This was my first time in Nebraska. I love it!"

Since the movie's world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival almost seven months ago, Forte has heard from strangers who confided their relatives fell for scams or schemes that sounded too good to be true -- because they were.

Forte still watches "SNL" live or by DVR and went to New York for the mid-October episode hosted by Bruce Willis.

"It's a family there," he said, "so going back there, it's just like you're going home for Thanksgiving."